Employee onboarding checklist
How to onboard new hires and set them up for success.
👋 Welcome kit
A complete welcome kit centralizes all information future employees need to get started smoothly—from the answers to all their admin questions to what their first days will look like.
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- Gather all this information in a tool your team uses daily to get the new hire familiar with it. Gitlab uses Gitlab to onboard their employees, Sqreen.io uses Trello and Slite uses Slite.
Include the time to show up on the first day, how to reach the office or when to login if the new hire is remote.
All forms required by the company and by law should be signed or ready to be signed first thing on the first day (this is company and country specific). Get these out of the way as fast possible.
Include a quick presentation of every person on the team, their photo and what they do! This way, the new faces will feel a bit more familiar on the first day.
Already have a company handbook? It's the perfect place to send your new hires to read up on the company.
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Give the name, contact details and role of buddy at your company. Explain what the buddy will help with in the first weeks.
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Include things as basic as the building's entrance code, how the printer works, info about the coffee machine and snacks etc.
Create a networking plan between the new hire and individuals across the organization. Just make sure you're not overwhelming the new employee with too many 1-1 meetings in their first days — spread these out over the first two weeks.
💬 Stay in touch till D-Day
Onboarding starts from the moment the new hire agrees to join your team: be sure to maintain consistent communication with the future employee until their first day.
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- Use automatic emailing tools such as MailChimp and Mixmax, or others to improve your efficiency and ensure you don't miss this important step.
At least one week before they join, send them the welcome kit just so they know what to expect and get a sense of what the first weeks will look like.
At least one week before they join, encourage the buddy to message the future employee and present themselves as a point of reference if they have any questions.
Re-iterate how much you're looking forward to seeing them! You could even send them a photo of their desk all prepared and ready for their arrival.
🖥 Prepare workspace
From their work tools, to their office keys, the workspace should be ready when they start.
Set up their username and password.
This includes email ID, Slack invite, Slite invite, etc.
👐 Team integration
Different companies take different approaches to welcoming team members. Some companies announce the new team member arrival with a short welcome email, other companies ask new teams members to write a quick blurb about themselves.
The most important is that the new hire feels like the team's been waiting for them.
Plan to send a welcome email/message to introduce the new hire to everyone on the day they arrive.
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A few days before they start, get the new hire to introduce themselves too by sending a welcome message/email!
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- At Slite, we all write notes about ourselves and what excites us about Slite, and these get shared on our Slack channel the day before joining. Here's a fun example.
Set time slots in the team calendar and announce it to make sure everyone clears their schedules and can make it.
This is a great way to gather feedback on your onboarding process.
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- At GitLab, new hires will receive a survey to fill out two months into their new job. Here is a template with examples of questions to ask in your survey.
📍 First week
Here's a list of things to get right in the first week in the office or remotely. The manager and onboarding buddy play a big role in making sure the new hire is getting up to speed on their new job and feels welcome. But the entire team should actively participate in ensuring this is true.
Take a moment to ensure you're aligned on the onboarding process and on the first month milestones.
Roles and outcomes should be written down as early as possible and should include: the employee's mission, their main roles, clearly defined, and measurable goals for the upcoming quarter.
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1-1s, weekly meetings and other important, recurring, moments should be set in the first week.
🎢 First month
By the end of the first month, the new hire and manager expectations should be aligned and the new hire should be actively involved in as many aspects of the company as possible.
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Ideas to get the new employees involved as fast as possible:
- Get them involved in current hiring processes
- Get them to demo or present something they've accomplished
- Use a tool like Typeform to quickly and actionably build this survey out.
Look over previously filled Roles and outcomes to ensure you're still on the same page.
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Give your employees the chance to improve the onboarding process by encouraging them to voice their feedback. At GitLab, new hires will receive a survey to fill out two months into their new job.
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⛰ First three months
Review the goals and outcomes of the first three months to ensure that everyone's aligned. This meeting is a time to reflect on the achieved work, talk about the improvements that can be made and speak about the goals.
The goal is to address possible concerns and take action as quickly as possible.
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